University of Antananarivo

About: University of Antananarivo is a education organization based out in Antananarivo, Madagascar. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Lemur. The organization has 1561 authors who have published 1703 publications receiving 30922 citations. The organization is also known as: Tananarive University & Antananarivo University.

High burden of Schistosoma mansoni infection in school-aged children in Marolambo District, Madagascar.

Abstract: A school-based survey was undertaken to assess prevalence and infection intensity of schistosomiasis in school-aged children in the Marolambo District of Madagascar. School-aged children from six purposively selected schools were tested for Schistosoma haematobium by urine filtration and Schistosoma mansoni using circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) and Kato-Katz stool analysis. The investigators did not address soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in this study. Of 399 school-aged children screened, 93.7% were infected with S. mansoni based on CCA analysis. Kato-Katz analysis of stool revealed S. mansoni infection in 73.6% (215/ 292). Heavy infections (> 400 eggs per gram) were common (32.1%; 69/ 215), with a mean of 482 eggs per gram of stool. Moderate infection intensities were detected in 31.2% (67/ 215) and light infection intensities in 36.7% (79/ 215) of infected participants. No infection with S. haematobium was detected by urine filtration. Intestinal schistosomiasis appears a considerable public health issue in this remote area of Madagascar where there is a pressing need for mass drug administration.

Evaluation of spoligotyping, SNPs and customised MIRU-VNTR combination for genotyping Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates in Madagascar

Abstract: Background Combining different molecular typing methods for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) can be a powerful tool for molecular epidemiology-based investigation of TB. However, the current standard method that provides high discriminatory power for such a combination, mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable numbers of tandem repeats typing (MIRU-VNTR), is laborious, time-consuming and often too costly for many resource-limited laboratories. We aimed to evaluate a reduced set of loci for MIRU-VNTR typing in combination with spoligotyping and SNP-typing for routine molecular epidemiology of TB. Method Spoligotyping and SNP-typing, in combination with the 15 loci MIRU-VNTR typing, were first used to type clinical MTBC isolates (n = 158) from Madagascar. A step by step reduction of MIRU-VNTR loci number was then performed according to the Hunter and Gaston Discriminatory Index (HGDI) and to the Principal component analysis (PCA) correlation with the spoligotype profiles to evaluate the discrimination power inside the generated spoligotype clusters. The 15 MIRU-VNTR was used as reference and SNP-typing was used to determine the main MTBC lineages. Results Of the 158 clinical isolates studied, the SNP-typing classified 23 into Lineage 1 (14.6%), 31 into Lineage 2 (19.6%), 23 into Lineage 3 (14.6%) and 81 into Lineage 4 strains (51.3%). 37 different spoligotypes profiles were obtained, 15 of which were unique and 20 in clusters. 15-loci MIRU-VNTR typing revealed 144 different genotypes: 132 isolates had a unique MIRU-VNTR profile and 27 isolates were grouped into 12 clusters. After a stepwise reduction of the MIRU-VNTR loci number within each main spoligotype families, three different sets composed of 5 customised MIRU-VNTR loci had a similar discrimination level to the reference 15 loci MIRU-VNTR in lineage 1, lineage 2 and lineage 3. For lineage 4, a set of 4 and 3 MIRU-VNTR loci were proposed to subtype the Harleem and LAM spoligotype families, respectively. For the T spoligotype family, a set of 5 MIRU-VNTR loci was proposed. Conclusion According to the lineages and the spoligotype families, the number of MIRU-VNTR loci can be reduced to get an optimal classification of MTBC. These customized sets of MIRU-VNTR loci reduce workload and save resources while maintaining optimal discriminatory power.

A new species of Macrotarsomys (Rodentia: Muridae: Nesomyinae) from southwestern Madagascar

Abstract: A new species of Macrotarsomys, M. petteri (Rodentia: Muridae: Nesomyinae), is described based on a single specimen taken during a 2003 biological survey of the Foret des Mikea in southwestern Madagascar. This is the third species known in this endemic genus, and all are confined to the dry forest formations of western Madagascar. The region where M. petteri occurs is a unique transitional forest habitat that is under considerable threat from human-induced habitat degradation and steps need to be swiftly taken to protect the Foret des Mikea.

Essential Oil Composition of Alluaudia procera and in Vitro Biological Activity on Two Drug-Resistant Models.

Abstract: Drug resistance is a major obstacle in antibiotic and antitumor chemotherapy. In response to the necessity to find new therapeutic strategies, plant secondary metabolites including essential oils (EOs) may represent one of the best sources. EOs in plants act as constitutive defenses against biotic and abiotic stress, and they play an important role in the pharmacology for their low toxicity, good pharmacokinetic and multitarget activity. In this context, natural products such as EOs are one of the most important sources of drugs used in pharmaceutical therapeutics. The aim of this paper was to identify the chemical composition of the essential oil of Alluaudia procera leaves, obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and to verify its biological activities on acute myeloid leukemia cancer cell HL60 and its multidrugresistant variant HL60R and the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus exhibiting multi-antibiotic resistance. We speculate that cytotoxic and antibiotic effects observed in the tested resistant models may be due to the coordinate activities of forty compounds detected or to the C16 macrocyclic lactones which are the major ones (30%). Our data confirm the possibility of using EOs as therapeutic strategies in resistant models is due to the heterogeneous composition of the oils themselves.